The present invention relates to a puller for removing a pulley assembly from a crankshaft and, in particular, to a pulley remover for removing a double pulley-type assembly that is common on small lawn and garden tractors. Such tractors use small internal combustion motors which are vertically mounted in the tractor with the motor output or crankshaft extending vertically downward toward the ground. The double or multiple pulley assembly is firmly mounted on the crankshaft. Typically, in such small lawn and garden tractors, the double pulley assembly includes a smaller diameter pulley for receiving the transmission belt mounted above a larger diameter pulley for receiving the mower belt.
If the small lawn and garden tractor motor requires removal from the tractor for service, the double or multiple pulley assembly first has to be removed from the crankshaft. The pulley assembly is often force-fit on the crankshaft and without a puller, such as the present invention, the pulley assembly, because of its flimsy structure, is very often destroyed during removal from the crankshaft, thereby requiring a new pulley assembly to be supplied when reassembling the tractor, resulting in additional cost.
Various pullers have been disclosed in the past, such as, U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,004, dated Nov. 25, 1980, issued to William G. Floyd, which discloses a puller adapted for removing pulleys from the shafts of engines, such as lawnmower engines, small tractor engines, etc. The Floyd patent discloses a puller including a generally box-like member of heavy steel plates with one wall open. A jack screw is threaded through one sidewall for engagement with the end of a crankshaft to which the pulley assembly is mounted. A U-shaped spacer tool having an enlarged portion and a reduced shoulder portion is placed between the central or hub portion of the pulley on the side of the frame opposite that through which the jack screw passes. The reduced shoulder portion of the U-shaped spacer is effective to transmit the thrust from the jackscrew to the central or hub portion of the pulley. The pulley assemblies are removed from under the tractor. Problems may rise though with the Floyd design in that the box-like member may be very difficult to get into position on the double or multiple pulley combination because of the lack of sufficient working space under the tractor. Also, the box design does not allow adjustment for different sizes of pulley combinations and the U-shaped spacer would be difficult to position above the upper most pulley for the same reasons.
Other pullers are known in the art such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,218, dated Mar. 23, 1965, issued to Thomas 0. McConaha, there is disclosed a bearing removal and installation device specifically adapted for removing a bearing from an axle. Although such a device would work for bearings, it would not work for the double or multiple pulley assemblies used on small tractors because of their flimsy nature.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,059,327, dated Oct. 23, 1962, issued to Allen Burrows, is disclosed a pulley removing device for removing pulleys from a generator. The pulley removing device utilizes a pair of flanges that engage the groove in the pulley. Such a pulley removing device requires a strong pulley structure that will not have the walls of the pulley collapse in the area of the grooves when the device is used.